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Holy hell. I will say this now I’m mad Ozymandias gets six issues while Rorschach just gets four. It’s more story driving, which I feel is more comic book like. Brian Azzarello is the writer on this, and you can tell because it is pretty much, this is Rorschach, now we are getting our story on. (He is also the writer on Wonder Woman) Just a quick aside: Which makes me in a weird position on the whole Wonder Woman’s latest arc. Yes, it was story driven and we didn’t get a taste of what the rebooted her really looks like. But everyone please, quit acting like she is changed forever because really, unless she is eating babies and giggling about it, she is fine. Still Wonder Woman. It is an okay way of doing things. You sometimes lose out on characterization, but sometimes that happens. I have a feeling it will get better. Give it time.

As I said with Ozymandias, he has a great narrative voice, while awesome, is really better as a book than a comic book. There are moments were that comic drags. A lot. There is nothing wrong with doing a full issue inside a character’s head, but when you base a series around it, it isn’t a way to grab readers. Or keep our attention. I know what I like in comics, and that is a story that moves. Which Rorschach does that. It is pretty much a fun ride the whole time. Ozymandias is what I like in a novel, were you have more time to tell a tale.

Rorschach hits the ground running and pretty much as a great emotional tone the whole time. Rorschach is following a drug trail and ends up following the trail into the sewers and getting the shit kicked out of him. At the same time, there is a serial killer running around the city, killing women and carving them up. What I think will be a lot of fun to see where this story is going to end up going. Is Rorschach going to go after the Bard or not? I really like the idea of the Bard being a red herring and has nothing to do with Rorschach at all. Because that is how I would write it. But I think it would come to a head in the next couple issues.

So the next Two Series of Before Watchmen have showed up, Nite Owl and Ozymandias, and are two issues in before I decide to tackle them. Opps.

Anyways, I wanted to talk about them before Rorschach is gonna hit the shelves this week, and we know all bets are going to be out the window when that comes out. I have need to talk about these for a while.

This comic is fun to look at.

So first up, Ozymandias. The art and narrative voice is freaking amazing. You really get a feel for Adrian, but really, there are moments were the narrative voice gets in the way of the action for me. Because Adrian doesn’t know when to shut up, for explain, there is at least two narrative boxes that cut into every panel. It feels that there are moments that would do well for Ozymandias was just quiet, so the moments were more powerful. His girlfriend ends up dying at the end of issue one, but he doesn’t even quiet down then. He talks a lot. It gets a little much at time, but if you are looking for a comic with a good narrative voice and art, this one is worth picking up. He has a few moments were you really get a sense that there is more to him that he himself doesn’t really get to see. Especially with the death of Miranda, despite all the talking he does about it.

This cover is so hot I am gonna say it twice.

And issue 2’s cover was hot.

There are worst way to get a job.

So on to Nite Owl, which is already half way through its run. Danny ends up Nite Owl because he stalked the old one. And almost gets shot for his efforts before he even gets started on his crime career. And we learn his father was an asshole. And it is really fun to watch him work with Rorschach before we get to see him in his own stand alone. This comic is fun, just because of how Nite Owl and Rorschach work together, they have almost a Batman and Superman feel when they talk to each other. You know what I mean, one is a bit of a Dick and the other one is full of hopeful ideas. Of course, we would never see Batman and Superman fall into a Bondage sex club, and if we did, it would prove that DC had finally lost it.

Your father is an ass.

Of course I would buy that comic. I bet it would be hilarious.

I think both are worth picking up, but if you have to choose, go with Nite Owl, that one is a lot more fun.

I’m not planning on talking about all the issues with Alan Moore. Because everyone else has done that, and I honestly don’t care. Dc is out to make money that is what companies do. Moore didn’t know it was going to take off the way it did when he signed his rights to it away, so he made that choice. You do that when you want to get your name out there. It is the way it goes and Writers get screwed all the time. The only reason people care is because he is a big name, then it is ‘wrong’. Companies do this all the time to writers who aren’t as famous, it is the nature of the beast. So no, I don’t think it’s wrong. If I could get paid for my creative writing, I would sell out in a heartbeat. Creative intrigue on some level, is bullshit. It’s all about making money. Like everything else in life. That being said, on with the reviews.

So I have picked up the first three of the Before Watchmen series, and if you want my honest opinion, out of all of them, pick up Minute Men. I think it is the best written so far and one of the more put together stories. It starts with Nite owl writing his autobiography, Under the Hood, and he address everyone in the team very well. While I’m usually against framing techniques, were you have one character telling a story, because it usually gets dropped or doesn’t matter; but I think in Minute Men it works really well. Because they also use it to tell us about Nite Owl too! he isn’t just treated as a framing tool, he is a character too. When I talked about the Free Avengers #1 and Justice League #1, I said Justice League won because it didn’t try to over sell me with a lot of characters. Well I vote Minute Men is better than both of them. Yes, it introduces the whole team, and quickly, but it does in such a way that just gives you a sense of all it. They take the time to show you who is who in the story. Yes, it is just a set up, but it is a well written set up.

This scene I think is one of the most powerful things I have read in a while.

The other thing that is great, is characters that Watchmen just glossed over, like the Silhouette or Dollar Bill, are addressed. I’m hoping Silhouette is getting to be in Minute Men because I always wanted to know more about her. We knew she was murdered because she was a lesbian, so it is nice to see if she was good person or not. Watchmen showed that just because you are a hero, doesn’t mean you are good. And I also feel that it did a better job setting up the Comedian than the stand alone that he has. The goal for this issue was to set up the major players, which it did well. It feels like how the original Watchmen felt to me. (Granted, it has been a long time since I read Watchmen, and honestly, I prefer V for Vendetta. But that is because I love Orwell’s 1984 and it just feels like it is that world.) Minute Men tells a very tight story, the other two, not so much.

What…I don’t even…

Which brings me to the other two series….which is just….Meh. I really am not a fan on how The Comedian is presented as JFK’s buddy, and how he is the one who killed Marilyn Monroe; because Jackie Kennedy paid him to. Or at least talked him into it. That was just a wall banger moment for me. I honestly don’t understand the point because, well, we are talking about a woman, who when her husband was shot right next to her, she didn’t take off the suit that was covered in his blood. I know this is an alternative history, but I didn’t feel that there was enough set up for Jackie to talk Eddie into killing Marilyn. It kinda comes out of nowhere. There wasn’t anything established to explain why she is trying to get Eddie kill Monroe. What does she know? It was just poorly written. It never tells us what Monroe knows , but Jackie says she knows something and has a loose tongue….mmmm…okay? It feel it was there because we just needed him to do something that is Comedianish, which I guess killing Monroe is? We already know he is a dick, we saw him shot his pregnant Asian baby mama in the chest in Watchmen. You didn’t need this. And the end was just cliqued. I’m going to pick up issue two, but if the story is around the same as this one, I won’t be picking up the rest.

Yea….living in your mother’s shadow sucks

The Silk Spectre was just a little teen angst and that always kind of annoys me. But the story is told like she is a teenager and that is how it should feel. I can’t argue that one. She is living in her mother’s shadow and she hates it. This is how superhero kids would act. Laurel is pretty well rounded as a character, my problem comes in with her male counterpart, Greg. He was reeking a bit of a Mary Sue and that is always annoying. But even that isn’t too bad. It’s got a few good moments, like when Laurel lays out this girl, Betsy, who has been a cunt to her because the plot demanded it. And that her name is Betsy, and she wants Greg who is in Lurv with Laurel. It ends with them running away to California.

So yea….the other two aren’t bad…they are just, there. If you are going to pick one up out of these three, I think Minute Men is the way to go. Yea, there isn’t a lot of story meat in that one, yet, but I have a good feeling about it.